by Noel K. Gallagher | Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND, Maine - Oakhurst Dairy owner Stanley Bennett welcomed the news that Monsanto was divesting itself of its controversial dairy hormone business, after taking on the agribusiness giant in an expensive David-and-Goliath legal battle five years ago.

by Dan Glaister | The Guardian UK

Facing five charges of distributing illegal drugs, [Charles Lynch, the proprietor of Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers] was found guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom of selling 100kg (220lb) of marijuana. He faces between five and 85 years in prison; his lawyers intend to appeal.

by GRAEME SMITH - August 5, 2008

Afghanistan's flourishing opium trade has ranked among the most contentious issues between the Kabul government and its backers in recent years, but the disagreements have rarely surfaced in public.

Ahni

In recent years, the Peguis First Nation, a community of 7,200 in northern Manitoba, has been faced with a drug abuse epidemic. Last fall, [...t]he northern community opted to enact a bylaw that stipulates banishment as a penalty for anyone caught dealing drugs, and that requires all band members to pass a drug-screening test.

Northern and Indian Affairs Canada (INAC) is not impressed.

BBC NEWS - 2008/07/25

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is obstructing efforts to tackle his country's drugs problem, a former US counter-narcotics official has said...Thomas Schweich said Mr Karzai had protected drug lords for political reasons and tolerated "a certain level of corruption" rather than lose power.

25 July 2008

A Louisiana coroner has ruled the January 2008 death of 21-year-old
Baron Pikes at the hands of police was a homicide. Pikes, a sawmill
worker from Winnfield, Louisiana, was killed while in police custody
on January 17 after being shot nine times with a Taser gun [while wearing handcuffs].

By Justin Podur - July 14, 2008

Most societies seem to combine both irrationality and hypocrisy in their drug policies. These serve those who profit from the drug war, the monies, the weapons, and the pretexts that it provides. They do not serve addicts, users, or farmers. An end to prohibition and an end to the drug war would take a powerful weapon away from the war on terror.

June 2008 Features

On April 8, 2008, the Harper government introduced Bill C-51 as an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act. If passed into law, Canadians will no longer have the freedom to choose between pharmaceutical drugs and natural health products. The two categories we now have, namely drugs and natural health products, would be merged into one category called “therapeutic products”.

Vancouver safe injection site protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Vancouver, May 28, 2008 – In a landmark ruling released yesterday, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that InSite, North America’s first safe injection site, is protected by the Canadian Constitution.

by MARK HUME - Globe and Mail

A new public health study that looked at more than 500 young aboriginal drug users in two British Columbia cities produced such shocking data that people wept openly when it was first presented to a panel of elders...[T]he problem of sexual abuse in native communities has its roots in the residential school system, which created a generation of victims who in turn found victims of their own. She said it has created a cycle of abuse that is destroying young lives through violence, suicides and substance abuse.

B.C. Provincial Court heard Thursday that cannabis is safer than aspirin and can restore the balance in people's bodies to help fight illness...That was the testimony of Dr. Robert Melamede, an associate professor at the University of Colorado, who was brought in by the defense team for the four men accused in the Holy Smoke Culture Shop drug trafficking case taking place in Nelson this week.

by DOUG SAUNDERS - The Globe & Mail

"Last week, I saw a man sitting next to his poppy crop and crying,"..."He told me that he'd been paid in advance for his poppy, and how can he possibly pay it back now that it's been eradicated? He told me, 'I have no choice, but I have a 14-year-old daughter who I have to give to a smuggler as payment' "...[K]illing a poor farmer's crop can have nasty consequences.

By MARTHA ROSENBERG - Apri1 14, 2008

Ask about published reports of 470 completed suicides of people on antidepressants since Prozac debuted in 1988 and the drug industry will say that's depression for you. Without our drugs, it would be worse...But how does Eli Lilly and Co. explain the mounting suicides of people given Cymbalta...for [non-mental health related illness]?...The planned debut of Cymbalta...was even delayed by the suicide of a non-depressed person in 2004.

The Earth Healing Initiative is helping organize and promote faith-based and Native American participation in the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

The challenge involves nearly 40 recycling projects in hundreds of communities across eight states that comprise the Great Lakes basin.

The public is asked to turn in electronic waste (commonly called e-waste) like old computers, televisions and cellphones for recycling - and in some community old and unwanted pharmaceuticals for proper disposal because the medicines are turning up in America's drinking water and lakes, rivers and streams.

This because many wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove the chemicals that were flushed down the toilet or dumped down the drain. The traces amounts - while tiny - may be a health concern in the long run.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - CBC News

Antidepressants may only be effective in severely depressed patients, according to a new British study suggesting most patients see a similar improvement whether taking pills or placebos..."This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments."